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Blueberry Jam

The canning season is basically in full swing for my mother in law and I. We already tackled strawberry jam and it tastes so awesome I have been eating it on toast every morning. Now that blueberries are in season, we wanted to try our hands at blueberry jam as well, especially given how easy it is to make jams in general.

A local farm has you-pick blueberries so we put on our sun hats (well, my mother in law put on her sun hat, I didn't actually have one) and we headed out into the July heat to pick ourselves some fresh blueberries. We needed a big bucketful to get our desired amount of jars, but I was surprised by how quickly it went by!

The only downside? I got a bee sting! I reached for a few berries and there on the berry as a bee I couldn't see and it stung my thumb goooood. Other than that, I have to say that I found canning blueberry jam to be even easier than strawberry jam, which is mostly because you don't have to cut the green tops off. You really only have to wash them good and mash them.

I am not posting Ball's recipe on this blog because it is basically the same as the strawberry jam. Ball's pectin calculator is GREAT and I highly recommend it (click HERE to access that!) My mother in law and I use the low sugar because fruit is sweet on it's own. It's a great way to go to add a touch of sweetness without overpowering the fruit.

Fresh-picked from the bush! The beauty of these berries is quite apparent, but I also want to say that they tasted amazing, too!!!

The regular potato masher was no match for these berries, so we used this pastry mixer instead. For the berry jams you have to mash the berries in a single layer before measuring them. It helps release them juices as well as making the pieces perfect for jam.

Mashed berries getting all measured out!

When the berries are mashed you add them with some water and lemon juice into the pot. Then you slowly stir in your pectin. Once it all comes to a rapid boil, add your sugar and then boil hard for one minute.

Then let the canning begin!

You can see from the outside of the jars that it can get a little messy. It's important to wipe the tops of the jars clean before putting on your bands and lids.

Putting on our lids!

Once you have your lids and bands all secured, you process your jars in your water bath canner for 10 minutes. Then you let them rest for 24 hours. This is always the hardest part for me... the waiting. I always want to mess with the jars, but I have to be patient and not touch them. Do. Not. Mess.